Thursday, September 15, 2016

Jakey's Blanket


It feels like fall all of a sudden. The days are noticeably shorter and the evenings now have a sharp cool. After months and months of endless sunny days, the other morning the sky was gray and the patio looked strange. It took a few moments to register that what was strange about the patio was that it was wet. It was actually raining, though lightly.

The moon tonight is huge as it makes it way up into the sky. Costco is loaded with Halloween candy and costumes and they even have the first of the Christmas gift baskets on display.

Time seems to be whirling by way too fast. I am hitting the keyboard hard working on A Tangled Yarn as the due date gets closer and closer. Besides the writing, there is the yarn craft to consider. It started out having arm knitting and finger crochet as the featured crafts. But both the characters and me realized that wasn’t enough. Arm knitting and finger crochet are novelties, though I did figure out a way to make them useful in the book. So, I came up with something else to feature. It’s a way to knit or crochet a number of different items that are all based on the same pattern.

But to include the pattern, I need to make it. And then I came up with a way to kill two birds with one stone. I could make a practice pattern which could be a baby blanket for my grandson due to arrive in January.

And to further make it research, I went to social knitting at my local yarn shop Zoe’s Knit Studio. The bonus was after an hour of knitting and listening to several women talk, I felt super relaxed, which reinforced what I’m always pitching in my books. Crochet and knitting are good for you and even more so in a group setting. And I got a good start on the baby blanket.

Today, I went to my regular group of knitters and crocheters. We used to meet in a hospital classroom, but they made other plans for the space. Now we meet on the balcony above a food court in a almost deserted mall. Other than the movie theater with multiple screens and a few restaurants and two places in the food court, the mall is empty. Other groups gather in the food court. I’ve seen a canasta group, I heard there is mah jong, and there is another yarn group one evening. I also heard there was a group of Hillary Clinton supporters in red tee shirts making phone calls on her behalf one night.

I didn’t notice it at first, but today in addition to the six of us knitters and crocheters, there was a person sleeping hunched over on a chair right behind our table. The whole balcony was empty so it seemed odd that the person was staying so close to us. And we were making a lot of noise. I couldn’t see if it was a man or woman because they had draped the hood of their jacket over their face. When I left, the figure was still there.

4 comments:

ldosborn said...

First, congratulation's on the upcoming grandchild ! Is this your first ? A whole new world is opening for you ! The person "sleeping" at the mall may have been dead--that could certainly work into one of your books ! I was laughing about the idea of Bridget Jones Baby too--Molly could get into that kind of trouble, with Barry and Mason to duke it out. You do write at an amazing pace, with such a busy life ! Keep it up--and you'd better check up on that mall !

Linda O. Johnston said...

A new grandbaby on the way? How fun! And you're certainly preparing well for him.

And glad your mall is still open despite its being so empty.

Betty Hechtman said...

Idosborn, Yes, Jakey will be my first. My yarn friends and I did consider the sleeping guy could be dead, but they moved. It certainly could work in a book. It's a funny idea to have Mason and Barry dueling over a baby. I have Molly celebrating the big 50 in the book that comes out in November, which would make it all the more surpringing.

Thanks for the compliment about my speed of writing. I always feel like a slow poke.

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, Jakey will be here in January. My son and dil live five minutes away. It's my chance to be the grandmother I never had.